Dry fractionation of palm oil has traditionally produced a liquid olein and solid stearin fraction. MPOB has developed two modified fractionation processes that lead to increased olein yields through reducing olein entrapment in stearin crystals. The modified processes produce a more uniform crystal size distribution skewed toward larger sizes, easing filtration. A plant trial of one modified process for refining bleached, deodorized palm oil increased olein yield by 4-5% and resulted in slightly larger but more homogeneous crystal sizes, demonstrating "forced" Ostwald ripening at scale. The increased olein yield is due to less entrapment of olein in stearin crystals, as evidenced by unchanged olein properties
Original Description:
A new patented fractionation profile for palm oil fractionation for increasing olein yield.
Dry fractionation of palm oil has traditionally produced a liquid olein and solid stearin fraction. MPOB has developed two modified fractionation processes that lead to increased olein yields through reducing olein entrapment in stearin crystals. The modified processes produce a more uniform crystal size distribution skewed toward larger sizes, easing filtration. A plant trial of one modified process for refining bleached, deodorized palm oil increased olein yield by 4-5% and resulted in slightly larger but more homogeneous crystal sizes, demonstrating "forced" Ostwald ripening at scale. The increased olein yield is due to less entrapment of olein in stearin crystals, as evidenced by unchanged olein properties
Dry fractionation of palm oil has traditionally produced a liquid olein and solid stearin fraction. MPOB has developed two modified fractionation processes that lead to increased olein yields through reducing olein entrapment in stearin crystals. The modified processes produce a more uniform crystal size distribution skewed toward larger sizes, easing filtration. A plant trial of one modified process for refining bleached, deodorized palm oil increased olein yield by 4-5% and resulted in slightly larger but more homogeneous crystal sizes, demonstrating "forced" Ostwald ripening at scale. The increased olein yield is due to less entrapment of olein in stearin crystals, as evidenced by unchanged olein properties
MPOB Modified Fractionation Process for Increased Olein Yield during Dry
Fractionation of Palm Oil
Chong Chiew Let* and Yeoh Chee Beng*
Malaysian Palm Oil Board ABSTRACT Dry fractionation of palm oil has been carried out by palm oil refinery over the last fifty years. As palm oil is a semi-solid oil at ambient temperatures, it can be easily fractionated to produce a liquid oil and a solid fat for liquid oil and solid fat applications respectively. However, palm oil crystallization is a complex process which till date has not been fully understood. Improvements in dry fraction over the years have been mainly on the equipment side. Tremendous progress have been made in terms of crystallizer designer and liquid and solid oil separation, the latest being the use of a 30ton pressure membrane filter press. Work in the Malaysian Palm Oil Board on palm oil crystallization has enabled MPOB to develop two modified fractionation programs for RBD Palm Oil and CPO dry fractionation. These modified process programs, when applied to the dry fractionation process, will lead to increases in olein yields through a reduction in olein entrainment. The process will result in a more uniform crystal size distribution in the slurry which is skewed to the higher end of the particle size scale. This will help to ease filtration of the slurry. Results of a plant trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the program for RBD palm oil fractionation showed an increase in olein yield of 4-5% for the process conditions used in the trial refinery for the production of a low cloud point olein. In line with theoretical expectations, a forced Ostwald ripening of the crystals was observed to occur at plant scale, resulting in a more homogeneous but slightly larger observed average crystal size. The increase in olein yield is due to less olein entrained in the stearin crystals as evidenced by the unchanged physical characteristics of the oleins, despite the increase in yield.
_________________________ *Analytical and Quality Development Unit (AQD), Product Development and Advisory Services Division, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), P.O.Box 10620, 50670 Kuala Lumpur.